Bus Use in London Emergency
 

"Ian Jelf" wrote in message
...
In message , the new
avenger writes
Part of the duties of Centrecomm, the Transport for London bus Control
Centre, involve coordinating bus operations and liaison with the emergency
services and local authorities in any major incident in the Capital. There
are very comprehensive emergency procedures under which service buses can
be
commandeered for removal of casualties and for the transport of persons
involved in the aftermath. Centrecomm is at the heart of these activities.

That's good, sensible and reassuring to hear. I've just never heard of
it actually being *done* before. Has it been?


I'm not sure - possibly not; however many plans have been developed and
formulated after the attacks in New York in 2001. This of course is the
first concerted terrorist attack in the UK which has been directed at the
transport system so its natural that the transport system should be heavily
involved in the recovery operations after. My knowledge of Centrecomm is
rather basic; having been involved in contingency planning as a serving
officer in the Ambulance Service I am only aware of the basics with regard
to London, TfL and its operations. As has been pointed out, in any major
incident - and it need not be terrorist related, it could be natural
disasters - public transport anywhere in the UK can be commandeered for use.

From what I've heard so far, the emergency services AND the transport
authorities in London are coping very well indeed, far better in fact than
many emergency staff would have suspected. No doubt there will be lessons to
be learned, but they will be the sort that no 'exercise' will ever teach,
and thus our response to any similar incidents in the future will be even
more resilient.

Simon

Bus Use in London Emergency
 

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005, the new avenger wrote:

"Ian Jelf" wrote in message
...

The use of ordinary service buses to transport the injured in London
this morning appears to have been a widespread and planned-for action.

Is there any precedent for this, I wonder?

Part of the duties of Centrecomm, the Transport for London bus Control
Centre, involve coordinating bus operations and liaison with the
emergency services and local authorities in any major incident in the
Capital. There are very comprehensive emergency procedures under which
service buses can be commandeered for removal of casualties and for the
transport of persons involved in the aftermath. Centrecomm is at the
heart of these activities.

I've never heard of them before. Do they have a bunker? Please tell me
they have a bunker.

tom

--
They travel the world in their ice cream van ...

Bus Use in London Emergency
 

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005, Andrew wrote:

"Ian Jelf" wrote in message
...

The use of ordinary service buses to transport the injured in London
this morning appears to have been a widespread and planned-for action.

Is there any precedent for this, I wonder?

In fact across the country many local government emergency plans include
powers to commandeer public buses to provide transport to safe areas in
emergency situations.

One of the things i was told when i moved to Oxford was that there were
enough buses in the city to evacuate it in half an hour. There certainly
are a lot of buses.

I was also told that the university's chemistry ddepartment had a plan for
dealing with a major fire at the organic chemistry laboratory which
involved doing just that!

tom

--
They travel the world in their ice cream van ...

Bus Use in London Emergency
 

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 19:03:07 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005, the new avenger wrote:

Part of the duties of Centrecomm, the Transport for London bus Control
Centre, involve coordinating bus operations and liaison with the
emergency services and local authorities in any major incident in the
Capital. There are very comprehensive emergency procedures under which
service buses can be commandeered for removal of casualties and for the
transport of persons involved in the aftermath. Centrecomm is at the
heart of these activities.

I've never heard of them before. Do they have a bunker? Please tell me
they have a bunker.

tom


Hardly. Centrecomm is part of London Buses and is based at Company
HQ.

Rob.
--
rob at robertwoolley dot co dot uk

Bus Use in London Emergency
 

"Ian Jelf" wrote in message
...
The use of ordinary service buses to transport the injured in London this
morning appears to have been a widespread and planned-for action.

Is there any precedent for this, I wonder?

Yes.

World War 2. .... don't EFE have a bus in US ambulance colours?

and to a lesser extent ...
World War 1.



--
IanH

Bus Use in London Emergency
 

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005, Robert Woolley wrote:

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 19:03:07 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005, the new avenger wrote:

Part of the duties of Centrecomm, the Transport for London bus Control
Centre, involve coordinating bus operations and liaison with the
emergency services and local authorities in any major incident in the
Capital. There are very comprehensive emergency procedures under which
service buses can be commandeered for removal of casualties and for
the transport of persons involved in the aftermath. Centrecomm is at
the heart of these activities.

I've never heard of them before. Do they have a bunker? Please tell me
they have a bunker.

Hardly. Centrecomm is part of London Buses and is based at Company
HQ.

They need a bunker.

tom

--
3364147 Complete space vehicles (excluding propulsion systems)

Bus Use in London Emergency
 

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 19:03:07 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005, the new avenger wrote:

"Ian Jelf" wrote in message
...

The use of ordinary service buses to transport the injured in London
this morning appears to have been a widespread and planned-for action.

Is there any precedent for this, I wonder?
I'm sure we did this after the Clapham crash - by local arrangement
though.

P

Bus Use in London Emergency
 

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 21:30:55 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

Hardly. Centrecomm is part of London Buses and is based at Company
HQ.

They need a bunker.

Presumably if the situation was bad enough to need a bunker, said
buses probably won't be any use anyway, or people could just take and
use them as required as law and order would likely have broken down.

Neil

--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
When replying please use neil at the above domain
'wensleydale' is a spam trap and is not read.

Bus Use in London Emergency
 

"ian henden" wrote in message
...

"Ian Jelf" wrote in message
...
The use of ordinary service buses to transport the injured in London
this
morning appears to have been a widespread and planned-for action.

Is there any precedent for this, I wonder?

Yes.

World War 2. .... don't EFE have a bus in US ambulance colours?

and to a lesser extent ...
World War 1.

Also all bus drivers in Kent and Sussex (and other areas I assume) where
issued with instructions during WW2 as to what to do if they where on normal
stage carriage service and the Germans invaded.

Basically it was a scheme to ferry as many of the population as far away
from the South Coast as possible using buses already in the area.

Thankfully it was never needed!

Regards
John M Upton

Bus Use in London Emergency
 

and to a lesser extent ...
World War 1.


--

Indeed, the drivers of the London General Omnibus Company actually
drove some of their B class buses to the front in Flanders. An example
of such a bus is in the Imperial War Museum, and this is the reason
that its drivers and those of its successor, London Transport, and now
the privatised bus companies (ironically one of them being the
General!) are allowed to parade before the Cenotaph on Remembrance
Sunday.